Computing systems typically use adapters and network devices for sending data to and receiving data from mass storage devices. Typically, a serial data bit stream is received by an adapter over a wire (for example, copper wire, optical cable and others) and then provided to a higher level function for processing. The serial bit stream is transformed from serial data to parallel data using a process called “de-serialization”. The de-serialized data is provided to alignment logic so that other hardware components can recognize the received bit patterns. Continuous efforts are being made to efficiently detect bit patterns, especially in light of adapters operating at high speeds, for example, 64 gigabits (“G”) or higher.